UNITY: DISCUSSIONS ON THE NATURE OF REALITY
Read this article in German 
Mehrdad Noorani – From the dawn of man, and ever since human beings started to question their environment, they have been on a quest to find the meaning behind their existence. This quest, from the very beginning, has been two dimensional. One dimension was dedicated to finding the meaning behind their physical world, and the other was their inner quest for discovering the meaning behind their lives and their individual roles.
It was this inner quest undertaken by various enlightened masters, over thousands of years, which resulted in many spiritual inner journeys, that lead to the creation of various methods and paths born as a result of their discoveries. However, throughout time, these discoveries and methods have often been warped or tainted by dogma and superstitions that have turned these teachings into the various dogmatic doctrines we find today. All of which, often misrepresent the essence of these ancient spiritual teachings.
Excerpts from the recent event: ‘Reality Behind Creation: A Personal Perspective’ Mehrdad Noorani shares some perspectives on the topic of the nature of reality.
What is clear from a viewpoint of an objective spiritual seeker, is that many of the discoveries of these enlightened masters have much in common, both in the methods they employed and in their individual experiences. It is also clear that each enlightened master, as the result of their personal experiences, saw themselves as an integral part of creation both in metaphysical and physical terms, and not something separate from it. As a result of their findings they also discovered that each individual has indeed a personal face or interface to the Ultimate Reality, which they encountered at the heart of their inner journey. It is also this Reality that they pinpoint as the source of all creation, while being at the same time independent from it and integral to its existence. For these masters this Reality was in fact the unified face of all creation.
Nonetheless, over time this Reality became the centre point of many religions we see today, and is referred to by many names. Names such as God, Yahavah, Allah, Ahuramazda, Yazdan or Brahman.
Yet, the use of the above names often lead to divisions, as they all have religious connotations, that are very difficult to overcome. For example, as soon as a person uses the word God in a sentence, the word brings with it a thousand religious images to the minds of the listeners, which in all probability are all different in origin, and are also accompanied with different senses of understanding and emotions in the mind of each listener. All of which, are probably very different from those intended by the spiritual masters, who had personal experiences of this Reality. That is why when discussing this Reality, in relation to what it means to the heart of an advanced seeker, I prefer to use the term Unity. As this label, is the one mostly used by advanced masters, because by its very definition, it tries to unify all listeners, rather than divide them. Moreover, it also acts as an invitation to the audience, to undertake their own personal journey of self-discovery towards this Unity.
The following quotes from a few enlightened masters, I think will highlight my point:
He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye. – Buddha
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. John 4:12
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! – Psalm 133:1
Perhaps one of the most succinct expressions of this principle was made by Swami Vivekananda who said:
The great lesson is, that unity is behind all. Call it God, Love, Spirit. Allah, Jehovah – it is the same unity that animates all life from the lowest animal to the noblest man.
And another more laconic and beautiful expression of this principle was made by Jalal-l-din Rumi, in his famous poem which states:
“Why think thus O men of piety
I have returned to sobriety
I am neither a Moslem nor a Hindu
I am not Christian, Zoroastrian, nor Jew
I am neither of the West nor the East
Not of the ocean, nor an earthly beast
I am neither a natural wonder
Nor from the stars yonder
My place is the no-place
My image is without face
Neither of body nor the soul
I am of the Divine Whole.
I eliminated duality with joyous laughter
Saw the unity of here and the hereafter
Unity is what I sing, unity is what I speak
Unity is what I know, unity is what I seek”
Therefore, it’s through the principle of unity, which was long established by past great masters, some of whom I just mentioned, that I would like to bring about unification of thought, mind and viewpoint by sharing these great masters views on Unity in an open discussion format. Where each speaker talks about unity and what it means to them and how it influences their everyday message, behaviour, goals and ultimately their lives. In the hope that by doing so, we all can take a small step towards the Unity mentioned by the above masters.
About the Author: Mehrdad Noorani is a London based teacher of Gnostic Heart Meditation with students throughout Europe & the US. He has studied Gnosticism for the past 20 years under the guidance of a renowned Gnostic Spiritual Master. Having also conducted in depth studies of different spiritual & esoteric paths over the years, he is especially interested in bridging science and spirituality and creating a link between the East and the West.
Read this article in German